Strawberry Shampoo
by Fading wind
Summary: A story about shampoo, coffee and piano recitals. [TamaHaru]


Title: Strawberry Shampoo  
Pairing: Tamaki/Haruhi  
Rating: G  
Spoilers: None.  
Warnings: None as well  
For: Converrrse on LJ. Merry Christmas! I hope this lives up to your expectations.  
Keywords: Shopping, shampoo, coffee, nerves and piano recitals.  
Word Count: 1,342  
Disclaimer: No, I don't own anything.  
Author's Notes: Un-beta'ed. My first Ouran fic. And my first het fic in _ages_. Written while listening to the character image songs! D The ending's a bit cheesy and overly fluffy but who cares. xD;

**Strawberry Shampoo**

Tamaki loved going shopping in commoners' department stores.

Most of all, he loved going shopping in commoners' department stores _with Haruhi_.

He loved dragging Haruhi into the girls' clothing section and choosing dresses that he thought would look nice on her. Haruhi would always refuse to even try them on, let alone buy them, but Tamaki still found it entertaining to imagine what Haruhi would look like in those pretty clothes _(and sometimes ending up with a nosebleed -- _not_ so fun)_.

This hobby of Tamaki's got on Haruhi's nerves, but yet she still complied with all the visits to the department stores with Tamaki.

She didn't quite know why. But maybe it was because sometimes, _just sometimes_, she enjoyed those shopping trips. Although they were hardly _shopping _trips. They were more like _wandering-and-looking-around-the-department-store-and-buying-nothing _trips.

Finally, on one visit, they bought something. Tamaki had found a bottle of strawberry-flavoured shampoo, and he insisted that he would buy it for Haruhi. It wasn't particularly expensive, and Haruhi was running out of shampoo anyway, so she decided to let Tamaki have his way.

The next day was a Monday. When Tamaki saw Haruhi, he immediately looked as if he was about to die from happiness.

"What happened?" Haruhi asked, blinking.

"You... You used the shampoo that I bought you!" Tamaki exclaimed in a shrill voice. "I can smell it! Ah, the wonderful, sweet strawberries!"

Haruhi raised an eyebrow. "How can that make you so happy? You're so strange, Tamaki-senpai." With that, she walked past him briskly, heading for her classroom.

"Wait, Haruhi!" Tamaki shouted. But Haruhi had already turned round the corner and was out of sight.

---

It was Christmas soon. The Host Club was planning an event, and Tamaki volunteered to do a piano recital at the event.

To make sure that his performance would be perfect, he stayed up late every night the week before Christmas to practise the piece. One night, he was practising in the Third Music Room. He had lost his watch earlier that day, and for some reason he couldn't seem to find a single clock in the room, so he couldn't tell what the time was, but he knew that it was definitely past midnight.

He was _exhausted_. It was Friday -- he had stayed up late for five days already. The previous night he had dozed off while practising at home and his head hit the piano keys, making the biggest clamour ever and waking up everyone in the household, which was why he decided to practise in the Third Music Room instead, but at night the school was empty and he wouldn't wake anyone up if the same thing happened.

He felt that he would fall asleep any moment, but he kept on practising. The black notes on the page blurred. He was playing the piece all wrong. He paused, feeling the need to scream at himself or throw things around to vent out his frustration. He just couldn't seem to get this piece right, and the event was on Sunday.

Suddenly, in the silence he heard footsteps. Tamaki might have believed in ghosts, but he was too tired to get scared. Straining his voice, he managed to yell, "Who's there?"

"It's Haruhi!" the person replied, and appeared at the door of the Third Music Room.

"Haruhi? What are you doing here?"

"I heard from Kyouya-senpai that you were practising the piano late every night, and you weren't at home today. He was worried about you. I thought that you might be here, so I came to check that you're all right."

"I'm all right. There, you can leave now." It came out harsher than Tamaki intended.

Haruhi frowned. "I'm not leaving. You're not all right. You need some rest. This way you can never get the piece right."

Tamaki looked up at Haruhi with eyes that had black rings around them. "Haruhi... Can I... Can you please go and make some coffee for me?"

Haruhi was slightly startled by this request. "No," she said firmly. "You're not going to stay here practising, so you don't need that caffeine. Promise me you won't stay up late practising again. Tomorrow is a Saturday. You can practise all you want. And then tomorrow night you must go to bed early and get as much sleep as possible before the event. Can you promise me that?"

Tamaki hesitated. "Okay, I promise. But I don't want that coffee for me to stay here longer to practise. I just want a taste of Haruhi's instant commoner coffee again." His smile was tired but warm.

Haruhi stared for a while in disbelief, and then she laughed. "I'll come to your house tomorrow and make you some 'Haruhi's instant commoner coffee' then. But not now. You won't be able to sleep if you drink coffee now."

"It's too late for me to go back home. I'll wake people up if I do. I'll sleep here for the night."

"I'll sleep here too then. Just to make sure you're not lying to me and trying to practise again."

Tamaki looked surprised, but he made no protest. He went over to the lockers and found two blankets and pillows, and the two of them went to sleep on separate couches.

Tamaki might have wanted to sleep on the same couch as Haruhi, but he _really_ was too tired to try and get her to agree to that.

---

It was Sunday night. The girls of Ouran High School were gathered excitedly in the Third Music Room for the Christmas ball held by the Ouran High School Host Club.

"We are going to begin with a piano recital by Suoh Tamaki," Kyouya declared when the crowd had quietened down a little.

The spotlight switched to Tamaki, who was standing by the piano. He announced the name of the piece he was going to play to the screaming fangirls. He then said, "I am dedicating this performance to Fujioka Haruhi, a very good friend who helped me with practising this piece." He then bowed and seated himself.

Haruhi froze when Tamaki made the dedication. All the fangirls' eyes were turned onto him, most of them burning with jealousy. "Why isn't he dedicating it to me?" some girls cried out in rage. Mori was holding back all the girls who wanted to attack Haruhi.

But the music soon soothed the girls. It was a wonderful, slow piece, with a very sweet tune that seemed to fit in with the festive atmosphere. No doubt the girls had all fallen into their romantic fantasies.

When the piece finished playing, everyone had forgotten about the dedication. Tamaki stood up, bowed once more, and walked away. A band entered and stationed themselves where he had been. Music played, and people started dancing.

"Hello, Haruhi," Tamaki waved cheerfully at her. "What did you think of the performance?"

"It was great," Haruhi said earnestly. "But... why did you dedicate it to me?"

"Just as I said. You helped me a lot. Thank you so much for your instant commoner coffee!" Tamaki grinned.

"You're welcome. Though, you really shouldn't have made that dedication. The fangirls all went crazy when they heard it. They might have murdered me."

"I'm sorry." Tamaki lowered his head over Haruhi's. "You... You're still using that shampoo!"

"Yes, I am. Do you like it that much?"

"Yes, I do. You smell nice." Tamaki wrapped his arms around Haruhi. She tensed. "Tamaki-senpai! If the fangirls see --"

Tamaki hushed him. "If you're not too loud they won't notice," he whispered. Tamaki and Haruhi gazed into each other's eyes.

And then Tamaki leant down further and pressed his lips against Haruhi for a fleeting moment. Haruhi jumped away, shocked. Tamaki looked helplessly apologetic. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "I forget myself."

"No, it's all right." Haruhi smiled. "I'm glad you like my shampoo."

They both laughed.

And the two of them danced together happily in a dark corner of the room, unnoticed by the fangirls, for the rest of the night.

**The End**


End file.
